It's not too often that a Syracuse Orange football recruit warrants their very own announcement open thread.
Robert Washington is no ordinary SU football recruit.
The four-star running back from North Carolina received forty offers and whittled his list down to six schools. Today, at 3:00 p.m., he'll choose from between the Alabama Crimson Tide, TCU Horned Frogs, Florida Gators, North Carolina Tar Heels, Michigan Wolverines and Syracuse. Talk about a coup if he ends up picking the Orange over all of those blue bloods.
SU's coaches have been after Washington from the get-go, starting with a visit by Coach Lea two years ago and constant contact ever since. A big part of the push has been the re-emergence of the Restore 44 campaign. Washington has said that he understands and has great respect for the 44 legacy. Whether or not he'd wear the number if he chose SU remains to be seen.
Of course, it hasn't been all sunshine and apple blossoms. Robert Washington, Sr. caused a bit of a stir earlier in the week when he told Syracuse.com that Syracuse fans "don't have to worry" about his son's commitment. That was followed by Sr. asking for a retraction and Junior coming forward to say his father actually has no idea where he's going to go to college. The whole thing raised some eyebrows but also reminded us that we've entered the world of big-time recruiting and all the weirdness that comes with it.
So, what will RW Jr. decide? We'll find out at 3:00 EST when he announces at Ascending Faith Church (keep an eye on his Twitterfeed as well). And while Orange fans should try to keep a level head about everything, faith is something they're holding onto in the meantime.
Leave your pre- and post-announcement comments below. G'ORANGE!